About Artist Caroline Lawrey

I am based in Aireys Inlet Victoria Australia. Following a very successful career in Local Government and the corporate sector I was drawn to developing my creative skills and to see where my many hours of “doodling “ on notebooks and various documents would lead me. There was also fear about what my” identity” would be after I left career roles which I had assumed shaped me as a person and gave me a sense of “legitimacy” for want of a better word.

Picking up a pencil as a mature adult at a community centre took me back to my childhood and school days in a very lovely way – triggering the joy of being in the moment and exploring what I thought I knew and what I needed to “know” differently.

We are so conditioned (as we go through life) that we can make many assumptions about what we think we “see” rather than sit and take stock of what we “see”.  Learning about soft and hard edges and the importance of light and shadow in creating a representation of what we want to portray on paper or canvas opened my eyes to a new and exciting world. A world ( where)  I started to look at everything differently and importantly to notice things and colours around me vastly differently than I ever had. And from that position my art journey started.

So many people say to me” I can’t draw or paint – I can only draw stick figures …. “ . I am not for one moment going to say it is easy to create a piece of art that you are happy with straight away . But I can absolutely say that everyone has it within to create and to allow themselves to use the part of their brain that encourages creativity as it opens us a new and brighter world. Also, that we are own harshest critics so please do give it a try!

My Work

My artwork is very much about capturing what speaks to me – be it a subject, composition, colour burst or feeling . The passion to capture that moment or special something on paper canvas or a board can take over and create a pure adrenalin rush.

So, my work isn’t always well planned.  In fact, I am notoriously bad at creating thumbnail sketches and identifying compositions colour tones and those important details which are important for planning a  piece of work.  I am unashamedly like a bull at a gate when I paint and the passion for getting paint on that canvas takes over. I have two amazing teachers and mentors – (who are also great friends) who have patiently taught me and are always reining me in for all the right reasons. And right they are – because like in life proper planning does prevent poor performance. But I also love those  other p words so much – passion – and paint – so I do sometimes get away with it….

I moved  from pencil and watercolour early in my creative journey  because once I found oils I was hooked – the buttery consistency – the way it moves on the canvas and the way you can create such true and rich colour and tonal variety without using  it straight from a tube – made me feel like I was painting and also returning to my days of school chemistry. It is quite amazing how black is not always black.

Today, my works are primarily oils on canvas or board although recently I have recommenced my acrylic journey and find myself working more in acrylics either as a complete piece or as an underpainting upon which I layer beautiful oils.